Origin:	Chicago, IL, USA
Genres:

American Heritage

American Heritage is an enigmatic band out of Chicago, the sort of slightly dissonant, jarring, art-noise-metal band that often doesn't attract a traditional metal audience even though all the elements are there. The first three albums are entirely instrumental, and on Bipolar (the album reviewed here), the vocals are sparse, distant growls, often seemingly an afterthought and almost never the focal point of the song. Don Caballero is sometimes referenced as a soundalike, which isn't too far off the mark, though American Heritage is arguably more metallic. This is heady and intense stuff, these guys clearly wanting to steer clear of standard song structures and simplistic arrangements. Apparently their lineup has mutated often through the years, though confirmed information is hard to come by.